An ongoing look at the highlights, recent acquisitions, and news from the Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University Libraries

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Miss Alice Keighley

Alice Edith Keighley
(1907-2001) was a lifelong resident of uptown New Orleans. For many years in
the mid-twentieth century she worked in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library,
retiring as head of the bindery department. In 1969, she donated her
personal social papers to Tulane University, with later additions through 1987.
These are now held in the Louisiana Research Collection as Manuscripts
Collection 849.

Miss Keighley
carefully preserved her invitations and other items of social ephemera,
correspondence and clippings, over many decades. The collection is
predominantly related to New Orleans Carnival but also includes a scrapbook
called a debut book, covering her social events of 1928-1929.

Numerous New
Orleanians whose papers are held in LaRC kept samples of the invitations they
received, and these are included in their personal papers. (Search LaRC
archival collections in the classic catalog, using the subject heading
"Carnival--Louisiana--New Orleans") but Alice Keighley's papers are
probably the largest grouping in LaRC of Carnival ball invitations directed to
an individual.

Captions: top: 1924 Mithras ball invitation, inscribed by Miss Keighley: "My first ball. Had a gorgeous time. Same one called me out to dance and gave me a silver bracelet." 2nd: 1972 centennial Momus invitation. 3rd: society clipping about debutantes of the season (1928-1929). last: handmade placecard for Miss Alice Keighley also from debut book.